Schiff Hardin hires Merrill Lynch counsel

Schiff Hardin has hired Merrill Lynch veteran Carlos Morales as counsel in the securities and futures regulation group.

Morales will concentrate in counseling financial services organizations, including private equity firms, hedge funds, broker-dealers, investment advisers, and bank holding companies, with an emphasis on Securities and Exchange Commission compliance and regulation.

This is a newly created position, said a spokesperson, adding that Morales will be based in New York.

Morales joins Schiff Hardin from Merrill Lynch, where he served as a senior vice president and general counsel for strategic initiatives, a role in which he was a legal advisor to senior management. Morales was also responsible for leading the legal and compliance functions, both regulatory and transactional, for the Merrill Lynch bank group, global research and investment management divisions.

Earlier in his career, Morales was a staff attorney in the division of market regulation with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Schiff Hardin has offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Lake Forest, NY, San Francisco and Washington.